


Upon a Midnight Clear

by neverminetohold



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: ...but Wasteland-style, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Fast Food, Friendship, Huddling For Warmth, Human/Synth Relationship, M/M, Romance, Slash, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-22 13:04:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11967990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/pseuds/neverminetohold
Summary: Hunkering down for a long and cold night, Nate spots a golden opportunity for a romantic gesture and jumps at it as best as he can.





	Upon a Midnight Clear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Masu_Trout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masu_Trout/gifts).



The stairs creaked and glass crunched. Nate raised his trusted Glock and took aim at the door. Wasn't easy with shaking hands and numb fingertips. Shit, talk about nuclear winter. "Show yourself!" he called, each word fogging in front of his mouth.  
  
"Now, don't go shooting the nice guy bringing you dinner."  
  
Nate snorted and lowered his gun, keeping it within easy reach just to be safe. He huddled deeper into his blanket. The fabric was rough and threadbare, not up to the task, but with gangs of super mutants roaming the whole district, lighting a fire wasn't an option. That way lay more trouble than the two of them could handle.  
  
Nick crossed the threshold, trench coat swishing, battered fedora tilted at an angle, the very picture of a hard-boiled private dick. - Except for the still twitching radroach he held in one hand, grabbed by its antenna.  
  
Nate smiled through the disgusted shiver that trickled down his spine and caught the giant bug tossed his way. "Thanks."  
  
"You're welcome." Nick settled down beside him, back against the dirty wall and legs stretched out. "You really deal way better with heat than the cold."  
  
"Bad circulation."  
  
"Don't I know it," Nick said with a chuckle. "What with being the one having to thaw those lumps of ice you call feet at night. Heh. Reminds me of Jenny."  
  
"Nora was the same. Started wearing socks to bed as early as August."  
  
Nate smiled at the memory. He was still a little awed that they had both reached the point where they could talk about the past without the need to clam up or a stab of dull pain, like picking at a scab. It had evolved from a tender and off-limits spot into just one more thing they shared.  
  
He made quick work of field dressing the radroach. Cracking open its dark brown carapace with his knife, he tossed the intestines aside and carved out any edible sliver of pale meat he could scrape together.  
  
"I miss fast food," Nate said and bit down hard on a helpless laugh. That had come out pretty damn forlorn.  
  
"Detective Barnes was convinced that sushi would have become all the rage had relations with Asia not gone down the drain."  
  
Nate grimaced. He was grateful for the meal, but Nick wasn't the one having to eat this bug - or fish in sour rice. Yuk. "Yeah, instead, we got a witch hunt."  
  
No use procrastinating. Nate stuffed the raw meat into his mouth and chewed, trying to ignore the loud squelch-noises in his ears that sent goosebumps along his arms. How could he even describe this? 'Slimy not-chicken with a sour tang that stung like acid on the tongue' didn't quite nail it.  
  
"Here."  
  
Nate took the canteen Nick offered him and washed the last traces down with a huge gulp of what Curie had declared to be a 'soothing and healthy tea substitute'. So far, no one living in Sanctuary had managed to figure out what those herbs were she had planted behind her laboratory. Not that he cared, as long as it dealt with the taste. Besides, Nate trusted her.  
  
"Better?"  
  
"Much." Nate screwed the canteen shut and stowed it into his backpack. "So, we giving up?"  
  
"I don't like it either, but better be realistic," Nick said with a tight smile that exposed the gleam of steel and a few wires through his damaged skin. "He's gotten pretty damn good at covering his tracks."  
  
"He'll be back. I'll contact Preston, ask the Minutemen to keep an eye out. Provisioners are too well armed, but with the weather this bad, he might follow them to town and show when they set up their stalls."  
  
"At least Davis is a petty thief, not a serial killer. Not that folks can afford to lose their goods or buyers their caps, but..."  
  
"I like it better when our business is slow going too."  
  
"Good thing we're not doing it for the money," Nick said. "Hey, you holding up alright? - Here, take this. It's not as if I need to keep warm."  
  
Nick stood before Nate could say anything to stop him and shrugged out of his trench coat. The heavy fabric rustled as he shook it out, and then it settled around Nate's hunched shoulders, adding a second, much warmer layer to the shivering bundle he had turned into the moment they had decided to stop for the night.  
  
"Thanks." Nate inhaled the familiar smells of home so close to his nose: hot metal, the 'rubber' of artificial skin, copper wires, and a hint of ozone.  
  
The pesky-cheery fanfare of Vault-Tec interrupted the cozy silence of their shelter. Nate glanced at the Pip-Boy at his wrist, wiped the grime from the display with the pad of his thumb and flicked through the data with a quick button press.  
  
Something caught his eye then, a gleam, a flicker of red. Huh, now there was an idea that went well with the date in the upper right corner of the screen. "Merry Christmas."  
  
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you care for the holidays?"  
  
"I don't," Nate said, "except it looks like Santa Claus set up a tree just for us."  
  
"What are you – ah."  
  
Framed by the crumbling brickwork of the outer wall was a dead oak. The whole Milky Way seemed to be draped around it, the sky full of stars and fading colors. Icicles hung from its scorched and snow-capped boughs. Lights flashed through them...  
  
Granted, the light effect show was due to laser fire in the distance with added mini nuke explosions, as the marauding super mutants faced off against raiders, but Nate had gone native enough to think it added wasteland charm to his poor effort at romance.  
  
"I'd question his choice for fairy lights but I guess he had to improvise," Nick commented with dry humor. A broad grin lit up his whole face. "Merry Christmas.”  
  
Nate tilted his head so that their noses brushed before their lips touched. He licked into Nick's mouth, no longer distracted by the sensation of dryness, the wrong texture of teeth and tongue, the draft of air that clashed with the absence of breath.  
  
After two years, those oddities only heightened the experience. Pure pleasure was left, the intimacy of the kiss... until he had to pull away quick with a huge, jaw-cracking yawn. Way to ruin the mood!  
  
Nick chuckled, a fond and warm sound. "Better get some sleep. We can open presents back home."  
  
"That a promise?"  
  
"Count on it."


End file.
